


[Lack of] Communication

by Zy_Khrymzynn



Series: Nathmarc November 2020 [21]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Publishing Company, Workplace AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27664031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zy_Khrymzynn/pseuds/Zy_Khrymzynn
Summary: NMN Day 21: CommunicationWhoops my hand slipped
Relationships: Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Series: Nathmarc November 2020 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995844
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	[Lack of] Communication

You’d be surprised how many people think they can write a novel. There’s this myth out there that all you need is some vague plot idea and piling words together and that makes you an author. This is the seventh manuscript to pass by his desk this day that’s not going to get off of the ground. Bloated plot ideas, inconsistent characters, overused cliches, and sometimes just straight up plagiarism. At least he doesn’t have to deal with the people who think they're funny by sending in books that have already been published, he’s got screening people for that, thankfully.

This latest manuscript at least holds some promise. Sure there’s some grammatical errors and some minor things that should be straightened out, such as ideas that just go nowhere. But that’s what his job is for. To identify what is going to sell, work with the author to polish it up and then release it into the world, probably sending it off to marketing to let them deal with it.

It’s this interesting science fantasy type story (thank goodness, he doesn’t want _another_ person trying to write a mystery while forsaking the essentials of what makes a story work, or a poorly-written romance novel based on 50 shades of grey. Thankfully Santiago Veritas has standards.) based around a world where there’s both hyper-advanced technology and magic. But maybe it’s too complicated.

_From: marcanciel@SantiagoVeritas.PH.net_

_To:Millerovomarakulos@Nuvatchek.pallas.com_

_Subject: Story idea._

_I reviewed your concept and I definitely think it’s pretty good, although I’d definitely like to help you with editing your project, and I’d like to help you with refining it into a product worth publishing. I think if we work together this manuscript can be something that’s widely sold. I should be able to send you a copy with my recommended edits in about a week. Thank you for choosing Santiago Veritas publishing house._

After he sent the email out, there was a knock on his office door, three quick knocks and three long knocks, the special knock Adam used.

“Come on in, Adam.” He said, and the door opened, and Adam walked in, with yet another baseball cap, this one was for the Toronto Blue Jays. Maybe.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Do you have something that looks promising? Pretty much everyone thinks they can make a romance novel just because they read 50 shades of grey and they somehow made it _more_ cursed.” Adam grumbled. “You mind if I take a seat?”

“Nope.” He replied. Adam took a seat then, almost collapsing into the chair. “Ugh, It isn’t even noon and my mind is already mush. How do you even deal with the drivel some people call a book?”

“I don’t. I just hope there’s something good. Is there a reason that you came here besides regaling me with stories of badly written ‘scenes’ that will make me regret being able to hear or see?”

Adam gave a slight chuckle in response. “No, not this time. Mr. Naran really wants to have a book out by the fall season, and he’s been trying to tell us to accept more without decreasing quality. I’ll keep looking, I found a mystery author that might be worth looking into…”

“I came all the way from France for this.” He muttered under his breath. “Well I was about to send an email to Mr. Naran about my latest project, so we should probably have at least one book.”

Adam got up and began to leave, but turned around in the doorway. “Hey, me and a couple friends are going to Neus 22 tonight, want to come?”

He sat back in his chair, lazily spinning it with his foot. He hadn’t really done anything cool in a while, but he’ll hopefully secure an editing project today. “Sure, why not.”

“That’s the attitude, dude!” Adam gave him two enthusiastic thumbs up. “Well have a great day.”

_From: marcanciel@SantiagoVeritas.PH.net_

_To: johnathannaran@SantiagoVeritas.PH.net_

_Subject: Editing project_

_I found a promising story idea that I should be able to turn into a complete book in time for the fall release. And the best part is that the first book is written with the idea of a series in mind, meaning that if the first book is a major success, then the author might be able to make a series. I’ll spare you the details and describe it generally so that you get a good idea of the contents. It’s a science fantasy series where magic and technology are both present in the same world and they complement and contrast with each other. It’s got an expansive world, compelling characters, and a pretty serious villain. It may be a bit cookie-cutter, but it has a few unique gimmicks, and that should be enough to appease the millions of sci-fi and fantasy people out there begging for new content._

_I know you had a decree for more romance, drama, and mystery, but there wasn’t anything good submitted to my inbox. If we can work with this person, then I suggest we pursue it to the conclusion, if it falls through, then maybe I can get something else to work._

After he sent that email, he got to work, fixing the errors he found, and started reviewing secondary files, character information, how the world works, and the extremely complicated magic system. This’ll be interesting for sure.

As expected, five minutes before he was going to clock out, there was an email in his inbox from his boss.

_From: johnathannaran@SantiagoVeritas.PH.net_

_To: marcanciel@SantiagoVeritas.PH.net_

_Subject: RE: Editing project_

_I’ll take what I can get. But if this falls though and you end up picking up another drama novel, then I won’t be complaining. Just make sure to get it done before the fall season Marc._

And thank goodness it’s not an email bringing up a surprise “passion project” from one of his friends, or something else, but it wasn’t. Sometimes he regretted taking this job, but this allowed him to get even better at writing.

“Hey! Marc is here!”

He turned around to see who had called him, and it turned out to be Adam, who was with a group of other people that were probably Adam’s friends. One thing he immediately noticed was that out of the six people here, Adam was the only one with blond hair, it stood out.

The place turned out to be pretty nice. He’d been suspicious of Adam, because he seemed, despite having similar qualifications to himself, would be the type to hang out at seedy clubs. Why he got that vibe he didn’t know. But Adam turned out to be a pretty cool guy.

It had been one month later, and he realized he hadn’t called Nath in forever. Shit, how long has it been? Alright, they may have failed to keep in touch, but that happens, right?

Ring ring.

Ring ring.

Ring ring.

Ring ri-

“Hello?” A female voice that was definitely not Nath’s answered. There had to be a reason for this, right?  
“Do you know who Nathaniel is?” He asked. Maybe his phone got lost?

“Sorry, I don’t know anyone with that name. I just got this phone number like a week ago.”


End file.
